NLN Leads Call to Reform in Nursing Education
With Vision for Teaching Care of Older Adults

NLN Leads Call to Reform in Nursing Education
With Vision for Teaching Care of Older Adults

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY — April 25, 2011 —
"Caring for Older Adults," the second in its series of vision statements, embodies the NLN's belief that there is an immediate need to transform nursing education in ways that better prepare students to advance the health of the nation's multi-ethnic, elderly population.

In announcing the publication of the vision statement, NLN president Dr. Cathleen Shultz, said, "This inclusive work among faculty, students, patients, and clinical partners represents NLN's transformative vision for nursing education and is responsive to the IOM Future of Nursing report's call for increased integration of gerontology in prelicensure curricula."

"Caring for Older Adults" challenges the nursing education community to create and implement a nursing education discipline that includes teaching the evolving knowledge of caring for older adults, designing intentional encounters with older adults in a variety of health care settings, developing students' clinical decision-making skills, and preparing students to manage care and to coordinate care during transitions across health care settings.

"As America's population ages and people live longer, geriatrics is an increasingly critical area of the health care environment. Nurses, who are on the front lines of health care delivery, must be prepared to meet the needs of this population," pointed out NLN CEO Dr. Beverly Malone. "With our Advancing Care Excellence for Seniors (ACES) project, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, the Independence Foundation, and Laerdal Medical, in partnership with Community College of Philadelphia, the NLN assists faculty to enhance their knowledge and transmit it to their students."

In order to transform nursing education to foster competent, individualized, and humane care for older adults, the NLN Vision statement concludes with recommendations for faculty, administrators, and its own leaders and members.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 34,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members who represent all types of nursing education programs.